Get systemd services in ansible plays

Hi, this is a tip to get details about linux (e.g. systemd) services in an ansible play. Just use the ansible service_facts module. You can use it without passing any argument.

– name: Populate service facts   ansible.builtin.service_facts:

You can access services by using ansible_facts.services. As this is an dictionary, a single service is addressable by using ansible_facts.services[{{ service-name }}].

– name: show all service facts
  debug:
    var: ansible_facts.services[{{ service_name }}]

A few more examples:

– name: Retrieve data about single service
  debug:
    var: ansible_facts.services.httpd

– name: get a particular service attribute
  debug:
    var: ansible_facts.services.httpd.state

– name: Test (RHEL7 and higher) if service is up and running
  fail:
    msg: “Service httpd is already running”
    when: ansible_facts.services.[“httpd.service”] is defined